Donald Trump says EU was ‘formed to screw the United States’ and threatens 25% tariffs
Donald Trump has said he will impose 25% tariffs on the EU “very soon” and claimed the bloc was “formed in order to screw the United States”.
The US president made the remarks while holding his first cabinet meeting at the White House since his inauguration in January.
The world’s richest man Elon Musk, who leads the US Department of Government Efficiency but is not a cabinet member, was among those present.
During his second term as president, Mr Trump has sparked fears of a global trade war by either imposing, or threatening to impose, high tariffs on both America’s allies and geopolitical rivals.
Earlier this month the US government imposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.
Beijing retaliated by imposing 10% duties on many US imports and 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas.
Meanwhile, the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada were paused after agreements were reached on border security.
‘They’ve taken advantage of us’
Asked whether he had made a decision about imposing tariffs on the European Union, Mr Trump said: “We have made a decision, we’ll be announcing it very soon and it will be 25% generally speaking and that will be on cars and all other things.
“The European Union is a different case than Canada, a different kind of case, they’ve really taken advantage of us in a different way.
“They don’t accept our cars, they don’t accept essentially our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not, and we accept everything from them, and we have about a $300bn (£237bn) deficit with the European Union.”
He added: “The European Union, it was formed in order to screw the United States.
“Let’s be honest – the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States, that’s the purpose of it, and they’ve done a good job of it, but now I’m president.”
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Putin is ‘very cunning’
Asked what he will do if the EU retaliates, Mr Trump said: “They can’t, I mean, they can try, but they can’t.”
He added: “They can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation, because we just go cold turkey, we don’t buy anymore.
“If that happens, we win.”
The threat of tariffs comes at a time of fragile relations between the US and Europe as the Trump administration appears to favour Moscow over Kyiv as it tries to bring about peace in Ukraine.
Mr Trump shocked European leaders last week by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator with no elections”.
Mr Zelenskyy accused the US president of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space”.
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Elon Musk speaks at the cabinet meeting. Pic: AP
Ukraine to sign ‘very big’ deal
Asked at the cabinet meeting about security guarantees the US might be willing to offer Ukraine as part of peace negotiations, Mr Trump said: “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much.
“We’re going to have Europe do that, because we’re talking about Europe as the next-door neighbour.”
Mr Trump also said Mr Zelenskyy will visit the US on Friday to sign a “very big” minerals deal.
The US president views the transaction with Ukraine as a fair way to recoup the billions of dollars that America has given Kyiv – via weapons and financial support – to help in their fight against Russia.
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Mr Trump went on to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “very smart” and “very cunning person” during the cabinet meeting.
He said: “I think he wanted the whole (of Ukraine) when I got elected, (then) we spoke, and I think we’re going to have a deal.”
Ukraine NATO membership ruled out
Mr Trump also said he believes Mr Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he was US president at the time.
Asked whether Ukraine could gain NATO membership, the US president said: “You can forget about it. That’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
Mr Trump declined to comment when asked about whether he would ever allow China to take control of Taiwan by force.
“I never comment on that,” said. “I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.”
Mr Musk spoke briefly at the start of the meeting to explain why he believes the controversial cost-cutting measures his department has been carrying out have been necessary.
Cabinet members were then asked by reporters if they were happy with Mr Musk and how he has been carrying out his role.
Mr Musk started to answer the question, but Mr Trump interjected and said he might want to let cabinet members answer, before joking that if anyone disagreed, he might “throw them out”.
World
Israel kills 22 people including nine children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
Israel killed 22 people – including nine children – in strikes on Gaza City today, Palestinian officials have said.
Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described the killings as a “horrific massacre”.
Video purportedly from the scene of the attack on the Souq Firas area of the city showed the bodies of children being pulled from rubble.
“We were sleeping in God’s care, there was nothing – they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign – it was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj.
“There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families – this square is full of families.”
Men carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in a strike on a building where people were sheltering in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted Hamas militants and that its forces tried to reduce harm to civilians in the area.
A total of 51 people have been killed across Gaza today, according to hospital medics in the Hamas-run territory.
Israeli forces pushed towards the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, placing at risk the lives of Palestinians who had stayed put in hopes that growing pressure on Israel for a ceasefire would mean they would not lose their homes.
“We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time, tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al-Hawa.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the oxygen station at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza had stopped operating “due to Israeli occupation forces firing at it”.
“Operations are currently being conducted using pre-filled oxygen cylinders, which are sufficient for only three days,” the group said.
“Occupation forces are currently stationed at the southern gate of the society’s Al-Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, preventing anyone from entering or leaving the hospital.”
The world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month that Israel’s blockade and ongoing offensive had pushed Gaza City into famine.
Palestinians inspect the site of deadly overnight Israeli strikes on a building where displaced people were taking shelter. Pic: Reuters
More than 300,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks as Israel has ordered the population to move south, but UN agencies and aid groups say an estimated 700,000 remain.
More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than half of them women and children.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The current wave of violence began on 7 October, 2023, when Hamas-led militants carried out an attack inside Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been fleeing northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Israel claims its operation in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to surrender and return the remaining 48 hostages. Israel believes around 20 of the captives are still alive.
Critics say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in peace negotiations and wants to continue the war with a view to displacing Gaza’s population and expand Israeli settlements.
He has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a Palestinian state.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “In Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year.
“They are the result of decisions that defy basic humanity,” he continued, citing “a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict” in his years as secretary-general.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the systematic destruction of Gaza,” he added.
The world’s leading association of genocide scholars, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), declared in August that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
Several other leading rights organisations, including two Israeli groups, have also said Israel is committing genocide.
Israel has repeatedly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and claims they are justified as a means of self-defence.
A Spanish military jet with a defence minister on board suffered a GPS “disturbance” while on the way to Lithuania, according to Spanish officials.
The military aircraft was flying near Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave on Wednesday morning when the incident is reported to have happened.
Margarita Robles was the minister on the flight, according to Spanish officials.
A commander onboard the Spanish plane said such incidents are common when flying near Kaliningrad, both for civil and military aircraft – and military satellites could also be used to navigate.
A Spanish defence ministry spokesperson said: “There has been an attempt to disrupt the GPS signal, but as our aircraft has an encrypted system, it was not affected.
“It must be common on this route and also with commercial flights. It is not because it is our aircraft.”
Read more: Who is messing with GPS signals – and why?
Ms Robles was due to have a bilateral meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Dovile Sakaliene during a visit to the Siauliai airbase on Wednesday, according to the Spanish government’s agenda.
The plane was also carrying relatives of Spanish airmen forming part of the new NATO air defence mission on Europe’s eastern flank.
It was launched earlier this month after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace.
The Spanish contingent last week intercepted eight Russian aircraft operating over the Baltic Sea, Spain’s defence ministry added in a statement.
Ms Robles, 68, has been Spain’s defence minister since 2018.
In June, she said Spain was “absolutely committed” to NATO and the European Union.
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Ursula von der Leyen speaks in Lithuania on 1 September. Pic: AP
Then in August, the minister said Spain would work to “invigorate” the European fighter jet project, known as FCAS.
It came after Spain revealed it was no longer considering the option of buying US-made F-35 fighter jets and would refocus its defence spending on buying European-made equipment.
At the end of August, a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suffered GPS jamming as a result of suspected Russian interference, an EU spokesperson told Sky News.
Estonia and neighbouring Finland have also previously blamed Russia for jamming GPS navigation devices in the region’s airspace.
Russia has denied interfering with communication and satellite networks.
World
Israel kills 22 people including 9 children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
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